West Virginians warn of lessons from chemical spill

Jan. 13, 2014
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Charleston, W.Va., residents arrive at distribution centers to load up on bottled water on Jan. 12. The West Virginia National Guard was sent to distribute bottled water, and residents bought up stock at local supermarkets following the chemical spill on Thursday. / Michael Switzer, AP

by Rick Hampson, USA TODAY

by Rick Hampson, USA TODAY

Even as 300,000 West Virginians sought ways to cook, wash, bathe and hydrate without their official water supply, some wondered about a broader question: If a simple accident involving a relatively benign chemical can cause such havoc, what about an attack on a reservoir with a far more potent toxin?

"It may be a good lesson for the country, to see how we're handling it, and what could be put into place,'' said Pat Barlett, 81, of Charleston, whose life has spanned many West Virginia disasters, including coal mine collapses, floods and blizzards.

"You know, the terrorists are around,'' she said. "This could happen anywhere. We need to think about it and be prepared.''

And something else, she said: "We need to learn to be a little bit more independent."

Debbie Stevens, 54, pondered the same issue as she waited to take a shower at her college student son's apartment in Morgantown, 160 miles north of her home in Charleston's South Hills neighborhood.

"With all the fears people have about terrorism around the country, this may teach them how easy it is for something like this to happen,'' she said. "This was an accident. What happens when someone does something like this deliberately? I hope this is a wake-up call.''

Stevens drove to her son's place Sunday morning and waited as her 27-year-old daughter preceded her in the shower. She said neighbors back in Charleston told her water pressure had dipped as water company crews tested and flushed lines.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Sunday afternoon that chemical contamination levels were continuing to go down, and that "we can see the light at the end of the tunnel." Officials said that the order against water use would be rolled back in stages, but they didn't know when that process would begin.

Bill Arthur, owner of The Anchor, a Charleston restaurant since 1936, said the lack of information was itself a sign of vulnerability: "Nobody even seems to know much about the chemical itself.''

"Most people did not know a whole lot about this chemical,'' Tomblin acknowledged at his news conference. "We've had to do a lot of research.''

The company that stored the chemical, which is used to wash coal, said it had "very, very low toxicity" and posed no danger to the public. But Jeff McIntyre, president of the water company, demurred: "We don't know that the water is not safe, but I can't say it is safe."

Arthur bought $20,000 worth of food last week that he can't sell. He said if he reopened he'd have to restrict his fare to bottled beer and shots of whiskey, "like the Long Branch Saloon,'' the infamous Dodge City bar.

Residents of nine counties - 15% of the state's population - have gone without clean tap water since a chemical spill Thursday that tainted the public water supply. Customers have been told they can use tap water for flushing toilets and little else.

The emergency began Thursday following complaints to West Virginia American Water of a licorice-type odor in the tap water. The source was identified as 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, which had leaked out of a 40,000-gallon tank at an industrial facility along the Elk River.

State officials say they believe about 7,500 gallons leaked. But since some was contained before reaching the river, it's not clear exactly how much entered the water supply downriver.

More than 30 people have sought treatment at hospitals for symptoms such as nausea. There have been no reports of serious illness.

The water company says it could be days before clean tap water is flowing again.